Hops vines reach for the sky at Mike Byers’ Potters Mills farm, Demeter’s Garden. Photo by Andrew Beam

by Andy Gabriel

Imagine taking a seat at a local pub and enjoying a frosty beer brewed with hops grown right here in Centre County. Thanks to two area farmers, that dream may soon become a reality.

Mike Byers, of Potters Mills, and Scott Case, of Aaronsburg, began growing hops last year just to see if it could be done. Both farmers are expecting their first harvest in August, and plan to sell their hops to Elk Creek Café and Aleworks in Millheim.

Tim Yarrington, head brewer at the café, confirmed that the company is interested in buying hops from both Byers and Case. Hops provide bitterness, flavor and aroma to a beer and are essential to the brewing process.

The two farmers could be the first to grow hops commercially in the area.

Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture membership director Michelle Gauger said there are no hops farms that belong to PASA and she is not aware of any that exist in Centre County.

Yarrington did not know of any local hops farms until Byers and Case began planting last year.

The two hops farms are the newest addition to a growing movement that emphasizes locally grown foods.

Elk Creek Café already supports the “buy local” trend in other ways. It boasts that most of the food it serves is raised or grown locally, and that its beers are brewed on-site.

Yarrington said there are many advantages to buying local ingredients, and hops would be no exception. He said having a relationship with farmers is an advantage, since it allows him to know exactly what he is buying – what goes into the hops and, more importantly, what stays out.

Both farmers said they are growing their hops organically.

Currently, most of the café’s hops come from the Yakima Valley of Washington. That region yields about 75 percent of commercial hops production in the United States, according to Hop Growers of America, a national nonprofit that promotes the hop industry.

At least for the near future, it is unlikely that the local farms would become the sole source of hops for the café.

Case is growing 60 plants; Byers has 40 plants ready for harvest this year and another 40 that he said should be ready next year.

“We’re getting into this slowly,” Case said.

Though Case and Byers are each growing their hops independently, both farmers know each other and occasionally chat about hops.

One topic that is often discussed among farmers and brewers is price.

Yarrington said it will be interesting to see if buying local hops is cheaper than having them shipped from afar.

If hops follow the same pattern as other local foods, they may prove to be more expensive.

According to Case, the price of local crops is driven up because they are typically grown in smaller quantities. Yarrington agreed.

“It’s an economy of scale,” he said.

Every brewer has his own distinctive style and philosophy regarding the use of hops.

Yarrington said he prefers to blend a variety of hops into a single beer to create a unique, balanced taste.

“Each variety has a unique flavor component,” he said.